1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Eubulus (demagogue)

EUBULUS, of Anaphlystus, Athenian demagogue during the time of Demosthenes. He was a persistent opponent of that statesman, and was chiefly instrumental in securing the acquittal of Aeschines (who had been his own clerk) when accused of treachery in connexion with the embassy to Philip of Macedon. Eubulus took little interest in military affairs, and was (at any rate at first) a strong advocate of peace at any price. He devoted himself to matters of administration, especially in the department of finance, and although he is said to have increased the revenues and to have done real service to his country, there is no doubt that he took advantage of his position to make use of the material forces of the state for his own aggrandizement. His proposal that any one who should move that the Theoric Fund should be applied to military purposes should be put to death may have gained him the goodwill of the people, but it was not in the true interest of the state. Later, Eubulus himself seems to have recognized this, and to have been desirous of modifying or repealing the regulation, but it was too late; Athens had lost all feelings of patriotism; cowardly and indolent, she rivalled even Tarentum in her luxury and extravagance (Theopompus in Athenaeus iv. p. 166). As one of the chief members of an embassy to Philip, Eubulus allowed himself to be won over, and henceforth did his utmost to promote the cause of the Macedonian. The indignant remonstrances of Demosthenes failed to weaken Eubulus’s hold on the popular favour, and after his death (before 330) he was distinguished with special honours, which were described by Hypereides in a speech (Περὶ τῶν Εὐβούλου δωρεῶν) now lost. Eubulus was no doubt a man of considerable talent and reputation as an orator, but none of his speeches has survived, nor is there any appreciation of them in ancient writers. Aristotle (Rhetoric, i. 15. 15) mentions a speech against Chares, and Theopompus (in his Philippica) had given an account of his life, extracts from which are preserved in Harpocration.

See Demosthenes, De corona, pp. 232, 235; De falsa legatione, pp. 434, 435, 438; Adversus Leptinem, p. 498; In Midiam, pp. 580, 581; Aeschines, De falsa legatione, ad fin.; Index to C. W. Müller’s Oratores Attici; A.D. Schäfer, Demosthenes und seine Zeit (1885).